Obscure Saint: St. Didacus | Feast Day: 7 November (U.S.)
catholictv Feast Day: 7 November (Franciscan Order in the United States and the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego) Didacus of Alcalá, (or the more familiar Spanish: Diego), also known as Diego de San Nicolás, was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother who served as among the first group of missionaries to the newly conquered Canary Islands. He died at Alcalá de Henares on 12 November 1463 and is now honored by the Catholic Church as a saint.
Didacus was born c. 1400 into a poor but pious family in the small village of San Nicolás del Puerto in the Kingdom of Seville. His parents gave him the name of Diego, a derivative of Santiago (St. James), the patron saint of Spain. As a child, he embraced the hermit life and, later, placed himself under the direction of a hermit priest living not far from his native town. He then led the life of a wandering hermit. Feeling called to the religious life, he applied for admission to …More